Global Energy Policy and East Asia Research Unit

Overview

Issues involving energy consumption are both multifaceted and global in nature. In Japan, energy issues assumed added significance after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011 and resulted in a greater need to raise public awareness of such issues. Therefore, energy policies must be made more transparent and communications among concerned parties must be improved.

International focus on energy demand has been shifting to China, India, and the ASEAN nations as the economies of these countries are rapidly expanding. One cannot discuss global energy demand and outlook without considering the supply-demand situation and energy policies in East Asia. However, on examining international energy governance in East Asia, one cannot support the notion that adequate efforts have been taken to ensure transparency of information and national policies, despite the various discussions facilitated through APEC and other arenas.

Global supply-demand dynamics are changing because of a surge in demand from emerging nations and the recent shale revolution; consequently, analyzing East Asia's energy demand structure and government policies, raising issues, and encouraging debate from a global viewpoint can prove to be worthwhile for both Japan and East Asia as a whole. Another promising effort can include submitting policy proposals to regional governments incorporating the latest energy policies and benchmarking their results. In support of this potential, we have decided to create a unit aimed at formulating policy proposals based on the analyses of current policies and suplydemand situations in East Asia.

Research

Examples of research proposals are listed below. Although these studies will primarily focus on individual countries, we plan to expand research and analyses to consider a broader regional framework including ASEAN, the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), and the overall East Asia region. Emphasis will be placed on interactions across various government ministries and agencies as well as discussions with energy users and academics throughout the ASEAN and East Asian regions. The research will be interdisciplinary and practical, and the results will be presented in the form of policy proposals.

Study on an energy roadmap aimed at the promotion of energy-saving measures and the use of renewable energy with technology assessments

Directors

Ichiro Sakata (Professor, Policy Alternatives Research Institute / Director and Professor, the Department of Technology Management for Innovation, Graduate School of Engineering / Professor, Institute of Engineering Innovation, School of Engineering / Special Advisor to the President)